Description

Julian of Norwich (c. 1343-c. 1416) is the earliest woman writer of English we know about. Although she described herself as 'a simple creature unlettered', Julian is now widely recognized as one of the great speculative theologians of the Middle Ages, whose thinking about God as love has made a permanent contribution to the tradition of Christian belief. This book presents a much needed new edition of Julian's writings in Middle English, one that makes possible the serious reading and study of her thought not just for specialists but for all medievalists. This edition includes separate texts of both Julian's works, A Vision Showed to a Devout Woman and A Revelation of Love, with modern punctuation and partly regularized spelling; a second, analytic edition of A Vision printed underneath the text of A Revelation to facilitate study of the relationship between the works; facing-page explanatory notes, with translations of difficult words and phrases, cross-references to other parts of the text, and citations of biblical and other sources; an appendix of life-records and early responses to Julian's thought; and an analytic bibliography. The volume also provides an accessible introduction to Julian's life and writings.